CRICKET:They say charity covers a multitude of sins, although when it comes to the GOAL Mile that's not strictly true. Running four laps of the track on Christmas Day will very quickly reveal any sinful excesses in alcohol or calorie intake, no matter how much money you donate.
Alastair Cook insists England need no extra motivation to salvage the final Test in Sri Lanka - after being stung by two Bs. Booed on to the team bus on Thursday and greeted by a banner - which read "England, Hang Your Heads in Shame" - when they returned to the field yesterday, Michael Vaughan's team showed greater fight on a rain-wrecked fourth day to close on 102 for one.
The performance enhanced prospects of a draw and was in stark contrast to their first-innings effort, which saw them dismantled for 81 in response to Sri Lanka's 499 for eight declared.
"There is no other motivation needed when you see banners like that and get booed going on to the bus," said Cook, unbeaten on 53 when the first spots of rain stopped play seven minutes before lunch. "It is tough; it is not as though we weren't trying. The pride and guts that everyone has in the side meant it hurt yesterday."
Disgusted supporters vented their feelings as the England party left the scene of their crime.
"They are entitled to their opinions; they are passionate cricket fans who have travelled a long way to be here," said Cook.
Wet weather prevented this historic Test, the first since the St Stephen's Day 2004 tsunami, starting on time.
Initially it appeared to be hampering England's bid to level the series and retain their second-placed Test ranking - now it could help them save face. But Cook reckons thoughts of elemental aid did not come into the thinking when following on. "To be honest, I was completely surprised by the rain," he said. "I was just about to put my pads on to come out after lunch, and the heavens opened.
"It is obviously helping us save the game. But what happened yesterday was very bad, and we wanted to come out and show the character and fight we have got in that side - to prove people wrong.
"They can say England hide behind the rain, but we wanted to try to do it the right way. I am not sure anyone quite knows what happens with the weather here.
"We didn't expect the rain to come and we just tried to focus on session by session. We had six sessions to bat and we got through the first one, losing one wicket. If we get through every one like that we will save the game."
The way England folded in less than 31 overs on Thursday was reminiscent of another calamitous collapse in Adelaide a year ago. They went on to lose that game, the pivotal moment in the Ashes whitewash.
"Momentum in cricket is quite a strange thing," Cook noted. "The way the Sri Lankans bowled yesterday was fantastic, and we couldn't respond to it. Once you lose a couple of wickets quickly, and another couple straight away, it is hard to stop. The whole thing snowballs.
"It wasn't quite as bad (as Adelaide), because we hadn't lost the game. That was a real tough pill to swallow. It was that kind of feeling - but we all knew we had another chance to put it right. It is always the tough times you tend to remember (rather) than the good times, in a strange way."
England lost captain Vaughan one hour before the downpour, which increased in intensity during the interval and left vast puddles on the ground's protective covering. Play was abandoned at 3pm.
Vaughan was out chasing a wide delivery from debutant left-armer Chanaka Welegedara in the 19th over of the day - a sliced drive was well held by Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene at second slip.
But whereas half-a-dozen wickets fell in the first 11 overs of the first innings, the Sri Lankans could not string successes together on a pitch that has lost pace as the match has gone on. "That's cricket," said Welegedara. "When you can start a good partnership you can keep on batting. If you don't put partnerships together then pressure can build up."
Two of Cook's seven boundaries in a 103-ball 50 were edges through the slips - neither carried - but there were few other alarms in the quest for survival.
Jayawardene rotated his attack regularly in the search for a breakthrough, using five bowlers in all, but it was not until the 18th over of the morning that Muttiah Muralitharan was introduced. Cook dominated the first-wicket stand of 67, twice punishing Welegedara in the 14th over of the innings - a full toss was pushed straight for four and a short ball cut hard to the boundary.
Arguably the best of his strokes was saved for the part-time spin of Tillakaratne Dilshan, when he bisected two fielders on the off-side with an extra-cover drive.
Despite being dismissed by Murali four times in the series, Ian Bell played in unflustered fashion against Test cricket's all-time leading wicket-taker and reached the rain break unbeaten on 17.
Overnight: Sri Lanka 499-8 dec (D P M D Jayawardene 213 no, W P U J C Vaas 90, T M Dilshan 84). England 81 (W P U J C Vaas 4-28) and 2-0.
England Second Innings
Cook not out 53
Vaughan c Jayawardene b Wele 24
Bell not out 17
Extras b2 nb6 pens 0 8
Total 1 wkt (33.5 overs) 102
Fall of wickets: 1-67
To Bat: K P Pietersen, P D Collingwood, R S Bopara, M J Prior, R J Sidebottom, S J Harmison, M J Hoggard, M S Panesar.
Bowling: Muralitharan 9 1 22 0 Vaas 9 2 30 0 Malinga 6.5 1 10 0 Welegedara 7 1 30 1 Dilshan 2 0 8 0
